NRM Buganda caucus will not remove Buganda parliamentary caucus

By David Serumaga

 

 

The main objective of this retreat was to assessing their progress and performance for the three years since 2016 when they assumed office and make resolutions that will enable them to deliver services easily and appreciate those who have made tremendous work in the development of our nation.

 

For the few days they were in Kyankwazi, a number of resolutions were tabled and approved namely; unanimously, they strongly recommended the continuation President Yoweri Museveni in leadership of both the State and the party up to 2021 and beyond.

 

Secondly, NRM members form Buganda resolved to form their own caucus called ‘the NRM Buganda Parliamentary Caucus" that will help them in discussing, implementing and lobbing for their kingdom separately from the main Buganda Parliamentary caucus.

 

Although this sounded as a minor resolution, opposition members in the Buganda Parliamentary Caucus have vowed to fight the NRM Buganda caucus saying that it has been formed to contend, destroy and disorganize the main caucus that unites all of them despite them being in different political parties.

 

I would like to disagree with Hon. Betty Nambooze, Paul Lutamaguzi Semakula, Mathias Mpuga, Moses Kasibante and Lukyamuzi David Kalwanga and many others who believe that the formation of the NRM Buganda parliamentary caucus group is intended to rival, destroy and destabilize the main Buganda Parliamentary Caucus. This is a wrong assumption from opposition MPs in Buganda because the formation of the NRM Buganda Parliamentary Caucus is to help Buganda NRM Legislators to coordinate party activities among themselves, lobby programs and projects from the central Government to develop and benefit the intact Buganda Kingdom and liaise with Buganda Kingdom establishment to give support to the Kingdom programs aimed at benefiting the region.

 

This new caucus is also mandated to induce the management of Mengo on issues which are the Central Government organs would wish to address to Buganda Kingdom for example. Recently, the Local Government leaders in the districts of Buganda asked the management of Mengo to pardon them on rent arrears because they cannot afford to pay. On such an issue, I do not expect to productive resolutions from the main caucus but when it is discussed in a sub-caucus, it can be presented well with a strong agenda.

 

I appreciate the campaigns made by His Highness, Kabaka Ronald Mutebi II on educating our children so that we can have skilled, knowledgably and productive Baganda of tomorrow. Although it is like that, we have never heard anything from the current Buganda Parliamentary Caucus talking about the deprived performance of UPE schools in rural Buganda.

 

 

This should be a matter of serious concern to any NRM leadership to see how they can link up with Buganda Kingdom to ensure that UPE schools, in rural Buganda improve quality education. Opposition members in the Buganda Parliamentary Caucus maybe interested in issues like laud urban politics yet NRM members in the same caucus may have different opinion and goals.

 

Those criticizing the NRM Buganda Parliamentary Caucus should take time to understand logic, especially logic in mathematics. Why do we have a set and a subset or a subset of the subset yet all of them are building blocks of the main set. Even the Buganda Parliamentary Caucus is a subset of Uganda. Someone will ask, if you have the Parliament of Uganda, why do you have Buganda, Busoga, Acholi caucus in Parliament of Uganda? If within Acholi caucus we have Gulu, Nyoya and Pader caucuses. This indicates that issues of Pader may not be the same like those of Gulu district.

 

This caucus is productive and strategic for the reason that if NRM members want to mobilize Buganda as a strong political base for President Museveni in 2021, why would they take this idea where the Nambooze, Ssegona, Mpuga and other opposition Buganda Parliamentary Legislators are? In case the ruling government wanted to find out why Masaka or Bukomansimbi has continued to remain under Democratic Party despite the tremendous developments made by NRM? This cannot be discussed in the main Buganda Parliamentary Caucus but rather be handled in the sub-caucus of NRM in Buganda.

 

The writer is the president of the Buganda Youth Wing